I woke up to a new article on Allpar-news "Toledo torpedoes labor contract".
After all the fighting to keep their precious Jeep, now this? In fairness, I am too disconnected to know all of the ins-and-outs of the contract but it does bring up my disdain for unions.
The article:
After all the fighting to keep their precious Jeep, now this? In fairness, I am too disconnected to know all of the ins-and-outs of the contract but it does bring up my disdain for unions.
The article:
Workers at the Toledo Assembly Complex have overwhelmingly rejected the proposed labor agreement between Fiat Chrysler and the United Auto Workers union.
According to a report in this morning’s Toledo Blade, UAW Local 12 President Bruce Baumhower said the rejection was “big time.” The Detroit News estimated that 87% of production employees and 80% of skilled trades workers voted against the pact.
The Detroit Free Press reports that union workers at the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant also rejected the deal by a wide margin. An unnamed source told the Freep that 72% of assembly line workers and 65% of skilled trades employees said “No.”
Belvidere Assembly and Warren Stamping with a total of five locals vote today, but unless the contract passes by a huge margin in those facilities, the contract will not be ratified.
In 2011 Belvidere Local 1268 decisively rejected that contract which ultimately passed by a slim margin.
Anticipating a likely defeat, the union has called for a meeting of all local leaders on Thursday.
UAW national leaders could call for a re-vote, but the margins reported so far, which are running almost 2-to-1 against the deal, mean it is unlikely that a second vote would win ratification.
The union could also decide to extend the current contract and return to the bargaining table or call for a strike, which has already been approved by union members.
Failure to win ratification could be a serious blow to UAW President Dennis Williams whose close personal relationship with Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has already become an issue on social media.
Rank-and-file members are unhappy with the contract’s failure to address the two-tier wage system and the transition of Tier 2 employees to Tier 1. They are also unhappy that the contract doesn’t include specific product commitments. Product plans were a hot button issue for workers in Toledo concerned about the proposed reassignment of the Jeep Cherokee to the Belvidere plant as it could negatively impact employment in Toledo.
Fiat Chrysler is not the only company facing labor troubles. The UAW has given Ford Motor Company a five-day notice of a strike at the Kansas City plant that assembles the F-150 pickup.
In an announcement sent to the media Tuesday evening, UAW Ford Vice President Jimmy Settles said that Ford has not negotiated in good faith in talks over a local contract for the plant. Local contracts are separate from the national contract and deal with issues related to a specific plant.
The F-series is a crucial product for the Dearborn-based automaker as it accounts for more than 30% of total sales with the F-150 taking the lion’s share of those deliveries.